[110412] in tlhIngan-Hol
Re: [tlhIngan Hol] Is Quv singular or plural ?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (SuStel)
Wed Aug 9 11:09:32 2017
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From: SuStel <sustel@trimboli.name>
Date: Wed, 9 Aug 2017 11:08:57 -0400
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On 8/9/2017 10:50 AM, mayqel qunenoS wrote:
> I meant, is {Quv} inherently singular or plural ? The way that {pIgh}
> "ruins" is inherently singular ? (if I remember correctly).
The question is really, does *Quv* represent multiple things packaged
together in a single noun, or just one thing?
Imagine a map with a grid system on it. There is a point on the map. You
can read the grid system to identify the exact position on the map. The
reading you get is the *Quv.* Is that the reading or the sum of separate
readings? In English, it depends on which word we use. If we call that
/coordinates,/ we're saying it's the combination of an x-coordinate and
a y-coordinate (or whatever coordinate system you're using); it's plural
because we're talking about a measurement with multiple components. If
we call that /position,/ we're saying it's the unique representation on
the map as measured with the grid system. That's singular, because the
components are not being described.
So we don't really know whether *Quv* is a collective noun or not, but
it's not really important. The only time its collectiveness or not would
be important is when someone wants to explicitly add a *-mey* to the
word, which is usually optional anyway. I believe it is not a collective
noun, because in addition to making perfect sense as a singular concept,
we're not given a separate, singular form of it. There is no separate
noun /coordinate./ I think the confusion simply comes from the way
English uses the word. I think *Quvmey* refers to multiple points on a
grid, and they don't have to be scattered all about.
--
SuStel
http://trimboli.name
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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 8/9/2017 10:50 AM, mayqel qunenoS
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAP7F2cK39De3XoRA_dbZwmRDLOVUA+Ueu7sXY7Lmr=4iaoyufA@mail.gmail.com">I
meant, is {Quv} inherently singular or plural ? The way that
{pIgh} "ruins" is inherently singular ? (if I remember correctly).</blockquote>
<p>The question is really, does <b>Quv</b> represent multiple
things packaged together in a single noun, or just one thing?</p>
<p>Imagine a map with a grid system on it. There is a point on the
map. You can read the grid system to identify the exact position
on the map. The reading you get is the <b>Quv.</b> Is that the
reading or the sum of separate readings? In English, it depends on
which word we use. If we call that <i>coordinates,</i> we're
saying it's the combination of an x-coordinate and a y-coordinate
(or whatever coordinate system you're using); it's plural because
we're talking about a measurement with multiple components. If we
call that <i>position,</i> we're saying it's the unique
representation on the map as measured with the grid system. That's
singular, because the components are not being described.</p>
<p>So we don't really know whether <b>Quv</b> is a collective noun
or not, but it's not really important. The only time its
collectiveness or not would be important is when someone wants to
explicitly add a <b>-mey</b> to the word, which is usually
optional anyway. I believe it is not a collective noun, because in
addition to making perfect sense as a singular concept, we're not
given a separate, singular form of it. There is no separate noun <i>coordinate.</i>
I think the confusion simply comes from the way English uses the
word. I think <b>Quvmey</b> refers to multiple points on a grid,
and they don't have to be scattered all about.<br>
</p>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
SuStel
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://trimboli.name">http://trimboli.name</a></pre>
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